Meet Arte Motu at La Honda exhibit
A dozen South Coast artists open a debut exhibit Friday at Sullivan's Restaurant, 8865 La Honda Road, La Honda.
  
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Commissions on artwork sales will benefit the “Art in Action” curriculum at La Honda Elementary School. “Arte Motu” is a Latin-esque nod to the curriculum’s name.
The artists include Sicily native Rosanna Petralia with abstracts in acrylic; Beth Ross with nature or abstract photographs on metal; Lulu Spiegelman with abstracts in acrylics; Delma Slout, acylics; Lou Heine, white ceramics; Glen Kimmel, photography; Natalie Fabbri (of San Francisco) with semi-abstract acrylics; Meredith Reynolds, landscapes in oils; Sukka Carfagno, acrylics; and Tess Black, collage with paper.
Arte Motu has been together for about a year and exhibited at La Di Da in Half Moon Bay in December. Members had been involved with the South Coast Artists Alliance but branched out, said Reynolds. “This is just a new expression,” she said.
Sullivan's Restaurant can be reached at 747-9220.
Holland shares her originals
Respected Coastside artist Rebecca Holland plans to sell some original oil paintings from her family collection, but it took a revolution to bring that about.
Holland, who lives south of Half Moon Bay, will offer 10 “California Landscapes” original paintings from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5 at The Wine Bar in Harbor Village.
They range from 11-by-14 to 16-by-20 inches, and many are familiar to Holland fans.
More recent works include “Above the Ocean,” “Tunitas Creek,” “Lupine and Poppies,” “Coyote Hill Moonrise” and “California Oak,” the show's featured painting at 16-by-20 inches. It is Holland's first oil painted on linen, done in 2009.
Also from the collection come “Autumn Trail,” “Victorian Afternoon,” “Hobbit Tree,” “White Sands Sunset” and “Thunder at Sunset,” all painted from 1980 to 1995.
The works begin at $1,100, Holland said.
Two factors, Holland said, brought about her decision to sell the works: an upswing in the quality and accessibility of giclees, and a wish to share, not hoard, her own art.
Giclee, from a French word meaning “spurt” or “spray,” Holland said, refers to a means of creating art through nozzles of multiple colors of paint. The upswing has resulted in high-quality, archival works that are indistinguishable from originals, long-lasting — and affordable: Originals typically run at two or three times the price of giclees.
“The revolution in giclee is motivating her to release paintings from her private collection,” said Holland's longtime life partner, filmmaker Steve Michelson. “It's the joy of sharing art with more people.”
Holland said she is now “hand-embellishing my prints so that they have texture as well as perfect color” which can last a century due to improvements in inks and the UV coating on the prints. “This technology releases the original to be available to collectors,” which she said she'd planned all along.
“It doesn't do any good hanging on the wall,” said Holland. Her paintings “don't belong to me. They just pass through me. What I really want is to share my art.”
Holland will not be the only artist sharing original creations Friday. Entertainment will be provided by singer/songwriter Dawn Rose, who began her musical career on the Coastside and now lives near Calistoga. She recently released a new CD, “Step by Step,” with a signature collection of original songs.
The Wine Bar can be reached at TheWineBarHMB.com.
Photographer reshapes cities
Pep Ventosa of Moss Beach is not an architect but could be, since he easily shapes cities.
His exhibit, “Reconstructed Photographs” runs through February at the Kelly Street Gallery.
“Reconstructed” refers to his subjects: urban (and natural) landscapes drawn out of dozens of images of world landmarks.
“I call it fragmented photography,” said Ventosa, a native of Barcelona, Spain.
He takes “dozens to hundreds” of photos, from one vantage point or several, in Barcelona, Paris, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Venice or more.
Each one is a segment: “They become like pieces of a puzzle,” he said. He draws from them all to put the image back together with digital technology.
“My process slows down the immediacy of digital image-making,” he said.
He also tries creative presentation: Some are simple prints and others are mounted on aluminum, in classic black frames or under plexiglass.
That's just one part of his show. The other, “The Collective Snapshot,” offers another take on photographic composites. Ventosa gathers images like the Eiffel Tower, the Brooklyn Bridge or the Floating Torii in Japan and then, also using his computer, juxtaposes them to create an abstract. “I stack them and blend,” he said.
Ventosa used a darkroom when he studied photography in his 20s in his hometown just south of Barcelona. It was a hobby then: he worked in tourism promotion and played drums for rock bands.
He came to the United States in 2000 and taught himself digital technology. Now he is a world-traveled professional, with a group show set for Paris and representation in Barcelona, Los Angeles, New York, Zurich and Germany.
“I put my eggs in many baskets,” he said.
The Kelly Street Gallery is located at Kelly Avenue and Johnston Street in Half Moon Bay. It can be reached at 726-4538.
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